Barton full of praise for Rovers’ unsung hero Coutts
He’s seen the younger players come through and that’s all a testament to the skipper. He’s one in a million
IT’S a measure of the strength of this Bristol Rovers squad, and the sheer volume of individuals who are making telling contributions, that in naming the team’s most important player, you could make the case for at least eight players.
In the last two weeks, Glenn Whelan, Antony Evans, Harry Anderson, Elliot Anderson and Aaron Collins have all scored vital goals or made man-of-the-match level performances to guide the Gas to victory.
James Belshaw’s consistency and ability to rescue points with crucial late saves is such that it’s becoming almost blase to discuss his significance; Connor Taylor is anchoring a defence that has conceded nine goals in 15 games this year, at the age of 20; Sam Finley reliability is such, you sometimes almost overlook his superb quality on the ball.
We’re also yet to see Sam Nicholson’s best, with the Scoti capable of being Rovers’ most influential attacking player, while Joey Barton’s own ‘favourite’ Josh Grant unfortunately remains on the treatment table.
For those newcomers to the Memorial Stadium looking to get shirts printed up with the surname of their favourite player, they’re certainly spoiled for choice in terms of options. However, there’s one name that isn’t maybe a headlinegrabber, a bona fide fan favourite or cult hero yet but whose contribution is every bit, if not more, important to the overall scheme of Rovers’ promotion drive.
Paul Coutts endured a pretty miserable start to life as a Rovers player. Signed among the first group of players in the summer, he looked every inch the leader the Gas have craved since Tony Craig was regrettably shown the door in the summer of 2020.
A vastly experienced and battledhardened midfielder of more than 400 professional appearances who can also play and has the personality and will to impose himself on a dressing room; to be both liked as a mate, but also respected to take direction and occasional stern instructions from.
The rationale behind signing him was, of course, down to his ability and overall presence on the field in such an important position, but also because the standards he could set, in how players conduct themselves and in terms of their overall professionalism - diet, gym
work, communication, attitude around each other and to the staff, how to play in training; the small details that fans don’t necessarily see in isolation between 3pm and 5pm on a Saturday but which all contribute to the overall performance.
Unfortunately for Coutts, Covid19 knocked him over the summer, and seriously. The tough midfielder lost strength and fitness and his pre-season was effectively declared null and void.
His debut outing in a Gas jersey then proved disastrous as born out of frustration and being that five to 10 per cent off the pace, it contributed to his red card as Mansfield Town as he tried to overcompensate for his fitness misgivings. Suspended and forced to work on his fitness, and at 33 this all must have been a concern, Coutts’ focus had
to be on himself for those opening two to three months of the season, rather than being able to exert his influence wholeheartedly on the group. But as he started to click into gear at the base of the midfield, so did his glue-like qualities in bringing individuals into the collective and raising standards.
“I know everybody else gets the plaudits but for me Couttsy, as the captain, the job he’s done, was incredible,” Barton said, ahead of tonight’s visit of Colchester United. “In terms of settling the dressing room.
“You guys won’t get to see that but for me I can’t speak highly enough of the job he’s done for us.
“He’s seen the younger players come through and that’s all a testament to the skipper. He’s one in a million.
“They call Couttsy ‘Uncle.’ “They all call him uncle, all the players. So that’s the respect he has within the group. He doesn’t ask anybody to do what he’s not prepared to do for himself.
“You should see him with his top off. He’s in prime shape. He’s superbly well-conditioned and that sets the tone. If your captain, who’s in his 30s and has had all the success he’s had, and he does that on a daily basis.
“We’ve got James Connolly, Luca Hoole, Connor Taylor, Billy Elliot, sorry Elliot Anderson. You can see why we call him Billy Elliot though after that on Saturday. Pirouetting through and scoring that goal.
“We’ve got a great culture emerging. The lads are turning up for each other every week and paying their rent on that. As long as they keep doing that for the next period, it’s a great indicator.”